Dark Harbor

Another good Stone Barrington book. A continuing cast of characters you come to know.

If you like the Stone Barrington character you'll like this novel (you'll also like it even if you're not familiar with him and his friends, but knowledge helps with the characters' history). They have a pretty good mystery on their hands and it is an enjoyable read.

Stone's first cousin, Dick Stone, and his family are found dead in their Maine home. Local authorities think it is a murder/suicide, Stone, his ex partner Dino, "friend" Holly Barker and CIA agent Lance Cabot think otherwise. Stone is also surprised to learn his cousin was a CIA agent. Everyone goes up to Maine to investigate the deaths. The body count mounts, Holly disappears after a routine jog. Lots of drama and suspense make this another winning Stuart Woods novel. The short chapters make it a perfect book to take on a plane or the beach.

Very enjoyable from start to finish. Woods keeps the action moving with good characters.

Attorney Stone Barrington dines with his former NYPD partner Dino Bachetti when CIA operative Lance Cabot and Agents Holly Barker arrive at the restaurant. Lance asks Stone what he knows about his first cousin Dick Stone, Jr. Stone says not much as they have seen each other once in the last two decades and that was eight or nine years ago. He said that following graduating high school he spent a summer with Dick and his family, but that was about it except for a package he received this morning. Lance informs Stone that the Isleboro sheriff department and the Maine State police believe Dick, recently appointed the CIA Deputy Director for Operations, murdered his wife Barbara and their eighteen years old daughter Esme before killing himself. Stone and Lance are to uncover the truth. They start with the package, which contains a letter of instruction, two wills, and a finance statement. From there the quartet travel to Dick's home in the village of Dark Harbor on Isleboro, an isle in Penobscot Bay, Maine. As they dig deeper into what happened, the evidence piles up that a double murder suicide occurred, but Stone finds it too perfect and wonders if his cousin's work as an operative or his estrangement with his brother Caleb led to what he believes is the homicides of three people. This delightful police procedural with espionage overtones hooks the audience from the moment that Stone and Lance discuss his cousin and never slows down until the final twin confrontation. The long running series is refreshed with Stone explaining aspects of his past but smoothly as part of the present investigation. This tale is a must for series regulars while newcomers will understand why the accolades for this very talented writer. Harriet Klausner